Advertisement

Share this article

As teams prepare for the start of NFL free agency on March 18, it’s imperative to have a strategical approach. For the Bucs, who have a lot of cap space to play with this offseason, the question will be which positions, and players, take precedence.

With Shaq Barrett likely the biggest Buccaneer slated to be a free agent, it seems the two sides are hoping to avoid the franchise tag and work out a long-term extension. But, another big question for the Bucs will be what to do with quarterback Jameis Winston.

The former Heisman Trophy winner’s 2019 season was a memorable and exciting one to watch (if you aren’t a Bucs fan or fantasy football owner that is). Winston threw for 5,109 yards, becoming just the eighth quarterback in league history to do so, but he also had 30 interceptions to go along with his 33 touchdown passes. With guys like Philip Rivers and Tom Brady slated to hit the open market, Tampa Bay could very well try and add an experienced veteran rather than bring Winston back.

Head coach Bruce Arians spoke at the NFL Scouting Combine the other week about the team’s quarterback situation, seemingly implying that the Bucs already know what they’re going to do. And, for those fans thinking Arians was just puffing and trying to gain leverage in possible negotiations with Winston and his agent, former Buccaneer great Ronde Barber thinks otherwise, as he said recently on 820 AM in Tampa.

“Look, I’ve known Bruce for a long time, he’s known me my entire life. What he says, he’s not mincing words. That’s the way I can say it… If you’re looking at the one piece where you can make leaps and bounds, it’s quarterback… Jameis is the guy that goes to a table and puts half his money on red and half his money on black. What are you gettin’ from him, you know? It’s hard to win that way.”

No one is going to argue that Winston didn’t struggle mightily at times last season, but as former quarterbacks have pointed out, learning Bruce Arians’ system takes time. The Bucs may think Winston has hit his ceiling, but rolling the dice one more year on the former FSU star could pay bigger dividends than bringing in a new QB through free agency or the draft to learn Arians’ system all over again.

Comments

More Stories

Tom Brady will be taking over a Bucs offense that ranked third overall last season despite the erratic play of quarterback Jameis Winston, who finished 2019 with 5,109 passing yards to go along with 33 touchdowns and 30 interceptions.

Despite the number of turnovers, Winston actually set the franchise record for passing yards and passing touchdowns in a season. And while Tom Brady is himself a member of the 5,000-yard passing club, he may have a better shot of breaking Winston's touchdown record in 2020.

Over his 20-year career, Brady has passed for 33 or more touchdowns six times, most recently...

From The WebAds by Zergnet

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers picked up two running backs in April's NFL draft in Ke'Shawn Vaughn (third round) and Raymond Calais (seventh round) to help bolster a backfield that lost Peyton Barber this offseason in free agency.

Vaughn and Calais will be joining incumbent starter Ronald Jones, who finished his 2019 sophomore campaign with 724 rushing yards to go along with six touchdowns. But the Bucs could definitely use an experienced veteran back to help their offense and new quarterback Tom Brady, and one name that keeps coming up is former Atlanta Falcons running back Devonta Freeman.

The coronavirus pandemic has interrupted sports leagues around the world, and if and when the NFL kicks off its 2020 season, one of the proposed ideas to ensure public safety is playing games in empty stadiums. While that might not be the ideal situation for either the league or its fans, it's an option that's on the table at this point.

Buccaneers head coach Bruce Arians spoke at length on a Zoom call with reporters yesterday on a wide variety of topics, from the national protests to his new quarterback Tom Brady. And, when talking about the possibility of...